King’s House Heritage Roof & Turret Restoration, Manchester

A Landmark Roof Brought Back to Life by Complete Roofing Systems

Complete Roofing Systems (CRS) was appointed by Amspec and Bruntwood to deliver the full roofing restoration of King’s House, a prominent Grade II‑listed commercial building on King Street West in Manchester city centre. Known for its stunning period architecture and iconic conical turret, the building required a technically demanding heritage roofing programme to protect and preserve its character for decades to come.

CRS completed the works on time, within budget, and with zero defects — all while the building’s ground‑floor restaurants, including the busy San Carlo, remained fully operational throughout.

A Failing Heritage Roof in a Busy City Centre

By 2024, King’s House was experiencing widespread structural issues across its traditional Welsh slate roof.
CRS surveys identified:

• Missing and broken slates causing active water ingress
• Heavy weathering, delamination and cracked edges
• Colour variation showing the roof had reached a critical failure point
• Complex detailing and geometry around the building’s historic turret

These issues required a specialist roofing contractor capable of restoring heritage materials while upgrading performance across pitched and flat roof areas. CRS was selected for its rare combination of in‑house heritage slate skills, flat roofing expertise, and city‑centre project experience.

Specialist Heritage Work, Modern Performance

Reclaimed Welsh Slate & Precision Craftsmanship

The client required maximum reuse of the existing slate to protect the building’s historical appearance. CRS:

• Individually assessed, salvaged, and graded hundreds of original Welsh slates
• Hand‑cut and reshaped each slate to fit the turret’s tapering curves
• Installed the new slate roof to full NBS compliance with breathable Proctor Air felt and gold‑grade battens

This detailed craftsmanship was particularly critical on the turret, where every single slate had to be uniquely shaped — a skillset rarely found in modern roofing.

Leadwork & Heritage Detailing

CRS completed extensive traditional leadwork including:

• Lead flashings and soakers
• Lead valleys and ridges (over £30k of lead installation)
• Bespoke curved lead components formed on‑site to fit the turret geometry

Rooflight Upgrade Programme

CRS installed 11 new Heritage Velux rooflights after strengthening and trimming rafters, improving natural light and energy performance while maintaining the building’s character.

Flat Roofing Enhancements with Garland UK

As a Garland‑approved contractor, CRS installed a full Garland Stressply Flex system to multiple flat roof areas, including:

• Plant decks
• Service risers
• Walkways and channels
• Stair extension and lift over‑run roofs

This system was selected for its robust waterproofing, long‑term warranty and flexible detailing, crucial for the junctions where the flat roofs met heritage slate.